NBN grapples with Fortnite demand as rollout endgame nears

Hit video game Fortnite has emerged as a new headache for the National Broadband Network, amid concerns telcos are not buying enough bandwidth to ensure fast connections in busy hours when Australians are streaming popular games and shows.

The NBN Co has sought feedback from its customers about the prices it charges and how they're handling major traffic events, as the rollout of the mammoth network enters its critical, final phase.

Fortnite's Battle Royale is one of the different game modes.

The NBN consultation paper, released in June, asks telcos: "How does your organisation optimise [bandwidth] capacity to respond to high-traffic-volume events such as Fortnite updates?"

Fortnite, which was launched in 2017 by multibillion dollar US studio Epic Games, is an online shooting game that is particularly popular with teenagers and played on many different consoles including the computer, Xbox, PlayStation, iOS and Android devices.

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The multiplayer game has been a global sensation and attracted 250 million worldwide registered users, who can pay to purchase outfits and cosmetic features for their characters.

Telecommunications companies typically plan in advance of major traffic events, such as live sports or popular shows like Game Of Thrones, to prepare for high activity so customers don't experience lags on their internet.

Multiple telecommunications sources, who wished to remain unnamed as the document is commercial-in-confidence, said the NBN Co and major telcos have previously reached out to large video gaming businesses overseas to ask for more visibility about when updates were coming out so they could better prepare their networks.

Unexpectedly high levels of downloads can cause sluggish connections for all customers using broadband, not just those downloading game updates.

Some games companies release their updates, which can be tens of gigabytes worth of data and are known as "patches", without much notification or the ability to download in advance of the release.

These patches, particularly on games that are highly popular, can cause huge amounts of traffic on the network as households rush to get the latest features and bug fixes. A recent Fortnite patch - a small update - was for a new gun.

Australian users often face updates scheduled to suit time zones overseas, which can coincide with the already-busy hours on the network adding to the risk of congestion.

One of the ways the NBN Co is looking to combat congestion issues is creating a weekly bulletin for telcos to let them know of updates or streaming releases so the providers can plan ahead and ensure they have enough bandwidth. The network is in contact with Netflix, Foxtel and other major streaming and entertainment businesses for this reason, sources said.

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Former NBN Co chief executive Bill Morrow said last year that slowing down or limiting downloads during the busy hours was being considered as part of a fair use policy hitting heavy users. At the time he said this would affect "gamers predominantly".

A source close to the NBN said there was no plan to implement any fair use policies, but have been reviewing many options to manage congestion on fixed wireless connections.

NBN Co general manager commercial Ken Walliss said in a statement that the network provides capacity for everyday data needs and ensures there is enough extra bandwidth to cover event-based surges.

"We closely monitor network demand and data flow ... and undertake network capacity upgrades as and when required," he said.

"We also work closely with retail service providers to help them manage their capacity procurement, providing them with individual reports that track their capacity purchases against their respective customers' data use".

The NBN Co also flagged the rise of streaming as something it is trying to manage as part of the consultation paper.

Referring to traffic reports and external data it says that "streaming video constitutes a significant proportion of overall internet traffic, and that proportion is expected to increase with the induction of game streaming".

One of the ideas NBN floated during consultation with its retail facing telco customers was different levels of pricing for video streaming compared to other types of traffic. The proposal resulted in an outcry on social media, prompting NBN to deny it is angling for a Netflix Tax and state it was not "working towards any pre-defined ideas".

The consultation paper, which has not been released to the public, raises video as a significant portion of overall traffic and clearly floats the concept of a different charge.

"Would your organisation support the development of a price response whereby charging of streaming video could be differentiated from the charging of other traffic/services?" the consultation paper asks.